History Series / OneFootInTheGrave

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[[caption-width-right:350:Victor and Margaret... and a [[ItMakesSenseInContext gnome]].]]

-->--'''Victor Meldrew''', {{catchphrase}}

* {{Flatline}}: Subverted. Margaret is hooked up to life support as Victor stays with her, holding her hand. The heart monitor does the standard "beep.. beep.. beep.. beep.. beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep", and prompts a ReallyDeadMontage from Victor, and then a nurse wanders by, complains that the heart monitor had been faulty all week, [[PercussiveMaintenance bashes it]], and apologises, as it starts beeping regularly again.
** Note that at one stage, the episode in question was meant to be the series finale, and Margaret would have been KilledOffForReal, subverting the audience's expectation that Victor's misadventures would eventually take a fatal toll on his health. David Renwick thought this ending would be too unjust, though, and the BBC also changed their mind about ending the series at that point. However, Renwick decided to keep her "death" scene to fake out the audience.

** From ''One Foot in the Algarve'', which reveals that [[spoiler: Mrs. Warboys' pen pal Alfonso killed his own wife]].

** The opening scene of the final episode.

** From ''One Foot in the Algarve''…
-->'''Mrs. Warboise:''' Well look them… Look at them, Alfonso! They are ''[[spoiler:both left shoes!]]''

* DeadHandShot: "Things Aren't So Simple Any More" combines this with a DeadHatShot when [[spoiler: Victor is run over and killed, with the only thing we see being his hat and hand falling into view, although a later flashback does give us a glimpse of Victor's body as Margaret finds it]].

* WhoWouldWantToWatchUs: "The Futility of the Fly" revolves around a play being produced about the Meldrew's adventures. The director watching it criticizes the performance, calling it too broad, its plots too implausible, and its main character too cold, and is surprised when he learns that these events really do happen in the Meldrew's lives.

-->'''Victor''': Question: "What's the difference between Victor Meldrew and a chef who keeps dropping his pancakes?" Answer: "They're both useless tossers!" [Pause] It doesn't even work. Look, it's got, "What's the difference between..." And then it says we're "both useless tossers". How is that the difference? That's not the difference. That's what we've got in common!

* DownerEnding: Pretty much every recurring character in the series ends up in a worse situation than at the start of the show. [[spoiler:Victor ends up dead, therefore leaving Margaret (who also loses her mother during the course of the series) a widow. Mrs. Warboys ends up a divorcee after unwittingly driving her husband into the arms of another woman. Mr. Swainey's mother and grandmother die during the course of the series, and there are signs that he's starting to suffer serious depression from the lack of any real progress in his life. Mildred commits suicide, which leads to Ronnie suffering a nervous breakdown. Patrick and Pippa are the only ones to be even vaguely better off, as Patrick has a much higher-paid job, the two have moved to a larger house, and Patrick gets an ''epic'' last laugh over Victor in the penultimate episode]].

* BeastInTheBuilding: In "The Return of the Speckled Band", an Indian Python escapes a garden centre and ends up in the Meldrew's house. Whilst one man manages to catch a glimpse of it, the Meldrews never do, and the snake ends up in their suitcase for their holiday to Anthens. The next episode, "In Luton Airport No-One Can Hear You Scream", reveals that the snake didn't survive the holiday, its corpse being eventually found in the suitcase.

* SadistTeacher: In "Dreamland", Margaret recounts a story of her childhood involving her wondering why one of the two budgies she attempted to free wouldn't leave its cage. She got her answer when her teacher made her read it out in school, leading to her being laughed at by everyone and leading her to realize that the world was terrible. She believes that the teacher did it deliberately to mock her and recounts that even then, she wanted to hurt him.

* RightInFrontOfYou: In "Monday Morning Will Be Fine", Victor meets an old schoolmate down at the pub who, mistaking him for another former classmate named Steve, uses the opportunity to complain about Victor. Victor, realising what might happen if he told the truth, keeps up the lie with hilarious consequences.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: "Timeless Time" very heavily implies that Victor and Margaret once had a son named Stuart who died fairly young. It's an implication that is confirmed by the books, which go into further details on his life and how he died.

* BlackComedyPetDeath: "We Have Put Her Living in the Tomb" features the deaths of two tortoises PlayedForLaughs - the first one is accidentally roasted alive, with some extra humor coming from a guy trying to ask the Meldews about satellite television whilst they try to save the tortoise. The second one is unknowingly BuriedAlive as part of a DeadPetSketch gone wrong.

** In "Broken Reflection", at some point in the recent past he got tailgated by an impatient computer salesman who yelled an insult when he finally overtook Victor's car 3 miles later. In retaliation, Victor noted down his firm's details that were printed on the car door and, in his words, took the liberty of inviting him around just to deliberately waste his time for the best part of an entire morning!" before tearing up a sales contract. His satisfied sigh when the salesman leaves in anger, as well as Victor's frankly gutsy move, is both hilarious and kind of inspirational.

* TakeThat: A [[Series/DealOrNoDeal Noel Edmonds]] sweater that Victor has second thoughts about wearing is discarded by the tramp who finds it next to a bin.

** "Timeless Time" (series 2), set entirely in Victor and Margaret's bedroom during a sleepless night
** "The Beast in the Cage" (series 3), set entirely in a car stuck in a traffic jam
** "The Trial" (series 4), set entirely in Victor and Margaret's home while Victor waits for a jury duty call; notably, it is told in real time and Victor is the only character in the entire episode

** "Threatening Weather" (series 6), set entirely in Victor and Margaret's home during a power cut

* AllPartOfTheShow: During a dress rehearsal for the theatre, a man falls from the top of the stage and seriously injures himself to the panicky consternation of the rest of the cast. Victor, who has arrived to see Margaret's part, sits and laughs at what he thinks is brilliant slapstick.

* Victor Meldrew, the star.